A soup to feel 'smug' about
A soup to feel 'smug' about
Healthy is not always pretty but damn it tastes & feels good to eat
I think I might have cooked the healthiest soup ever. Arguably not the prettiest, sure, but when it comes to 'good-for-you', I think I have nailed it.
I LOVE SOUP SO MUCH - I WROTE AN E-BOOK about my favourite thing to eat.
I am a food nerd, I am either reading up on food, cooking food, writing about food or, you guest it, eating food.
I also have a key interest in nutrition and have researched and read up on what would constitute THE HEALTHIEST DIET.
We don’t need to be a nutritionist (although I am studying to become one) to know that a PLANT-BASED WHOLE-FOODS diet is key to optimal health and longevity.
I have been plagued (no other word for it) by out-of-whack hormones ever since having my girls and as a person who are extremely wary of doctors and conventional medicine I have always tried to balance my hormones naturally. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
One way that has worked for me is eating healthily, which off course is such a broad term, but I have noticed the better I ate the better my monthly PMS would be.
“Eating a wide range of plants, especially those from the cruciferous family, daily, will have enormous health benefits for your body”
The cruciferous family, also called the brassica family, are like the veggie royalty of the plant family because of their health benefits. Veggies in this family include cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi etc etc.
So this made me think, why not develop ’n soup (my favourite thing to eat) recipe with as many cruciferous veggies that I can pack into, in one soup?
Voila, here it is, and if THIS is not healthy enough, I even topped this stunning soup with healthy crispy roasted Brussel sprouts! (and then some broccoli sprouts, how smug?)
Serving Suggestion:
CROUTONS! Always! Make croutons by cutting or breaking any bread into chunks ( I love using rye bread from Mount Elsewhere Bakery) , add to a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper and finely minced garlic, toss well, bake in a preheated oven at 160c for about 15min or until golden, delicious and will keep for ages in an air-tight container in the fridge. PS: the bread will crisp up as it cools.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic peeled and just bashed
1 large bunch leeks topped & tailed, chopped, carefully washed
3 stalks (1 cup) celery, chopped
2 medium carrots (1 cup) peeled and chopped
1 large sweet potato (1 cup) unpeeled, chopped
2 cups green cabbage finely shredded (or whizzed)
1 400g tin cannellini beans not drained
1-1,4 litres veggie stock (maybe more, depending on how thick you like your soups)
2 cups chard leaves only, finely chopped ( or whizzed)
2 cups broccoli florets finely chopped (or whizzed in food processor)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast or grated parmesan
white or black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the diced carrots, cabbage, celery, leeks, garlic, and sweet potato, season very generously with salt and a pinch or two white pepper. Sauté, with the lid on, until softened the veggies have softened, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the tinned beans (liquid and all) followed by the stock, I would START with 1 litre. PS: add the rest of the stock (next step), once the soup is liquidised ,so you can adjust the thickness to your liking by adding more stock. No one loves a thin soup.
Add the broccoli, chard and veggie stock (starting with 1 litre as above) The liquid needs to ‘just’ cover the veggies, adding more stock if needed. Simmer gently until the broccoli and chard is bright green, about 5 minutes. TIP: I would rather undercook than overcook the broccoli tbh.
Blend the soup to a creamy, cheesy-looking consistency, you might need to do the whizzing in batches. Return to pot; stir in nutritional yeast (or cheese)- (you might want to add more) and season generously with salt and a few pinches white pepper. Really focus on getting the seasoning up to perfection. Enjoy!
Serve with a topping of your choice like the crispy Brussel sprouts, croutons, more cheese and sprouts!